The Colorado Avalanche ended a three-game losing streak Sunday by beating a white-hot New York Rangers team by a 5-4 score. It was the Avs' first win after their blockbuster trade that sent star right winger Mikko Rantanen to Carolina and brought in forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury from the Hurricanes,

BOTTOM LINE: The Carolina Hurricanes face the New York Rangers in Metropolitan Division play on Tuesday. New York has a 6-7-0 record in Metropolitan Division games and a 24-21-4 record overall. The Rangers have scored and allowed 148 goals this season for an even scoring differential.

If the Avalanche had opened up a good old-fashioned bidding war on Mikko Rantanen, here are teams that would have been the best fit.

Makar scored again to give Colorado a 3-2 lead at 14:36 of the period with the Avs on the power play. Necas reversed the puck from the right side of the ice to the left, then MacKinnon set up Makar at the top of the zone for his 18th goal of the season.

Martin Necas had two assists, nearly scored twice himself and excelled on the top line. Jack Drury scored a goal and centered a new-look depth line while all 12 Avs forwards played more than 10 minutes, a departure from the usual top-heavy distribution.

The Rangers are now the heavy favorites to acquire J.T. Miller after the Hurricanes traded for Mikko Rantanen.

The NHL’s trade season is upon us, and the weather forecast is cloudy, with a chance of blockbuster deals. The Colorado Avalanche sent shockwaves through the NHL last weekend, facilitating a three-team trade to move superstar winger Mikko Rantanen.

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky is explaining his reasons for pushing for Mikko Rantanen, in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Carolina engaged in a trade with the Avalanche, as well as Chicago on Friday. The end result is that Rantanen is now a Hurricane.

The Colorado Avalanche traded Mikko Rantanen to Carolina. Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland has a message about that.

Artturi Lehkonen scored the tiebreaking goal with 14.7 seconds left and Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the New York Rangers 5-4. Defenseman Cale Makar scored twice and assisted on the winning goal while Jack Drury and Juuso Parssinen also scored for the Avalanche,

There’s around six weeks for the Rangers to alter their roster — with J.T. Miller still in Vancouver — after the team made significant changes in December with the trades of Jacob Trouba, their captain, and Kaapo Kakko.

Following the Rangers practice on Saturday, Peter Laviolette briefly talked about the blockbuster trade involving Mikko Rantanen.